Daily Bible Study April 18, 2002

Scripture and Footnotes, and Summary:

Beginning study on Romans

Chapter 3 (NIV)

Part b

God's Judgment Defended - Justification by Faith, Not by
the Law

9 What shall we conclude then? Are we any better [2] ? Not
at all! We have already made the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike are
all under
sin.
10 As it is written: "There is no one righteous, not even
one;
11 there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God.
12 All have turned away, they have together become worthless;
there is no one who does good, not even one." [3]
13 "Their throats are open graves; their tongues practice
deceit." [4] "The poison of vipers is on their lips." [5]
14 "Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness." [6]
15 "Their feet are swift to shed blood;
16 ruin and misery mark their ways,
17 and the way of peace they do not know." [7]
18 "There is no fear of God before their eyes." [8]

Commentary:

The universality of sin seems
shopworn for some, but for Paul and many of his contemporaries, it
was a new insight We deserve God's wrath, there is no doubt about
it!

In the second part, Paul proves our basic
sinfulness. He will indeed struggle with this concept later, as we
will see that even saints have struggles requiring God to pour more of
His grace upon us.

Summary of Today's Study:

We realize even more how much we are condemned
as we look with open eyes at these verses. Are not we full of cursing,
deceitful when it serves our purposes. Are we not prone to bitterness.
So we not wish to see our enemies put to death, those of other religions
who recently caused so much death of people of our own kind.

Whether you are Christian, Moslem or Hindu,
recent events have seen the deaths of many of your fellow-believers.
Do you think you are justified in wanting to see their deaths? How
much more would God be in wanting your complete destruction. Have
you thought about how completely sinful you are? Paul is going to
mix things pretty completely together, and he continues his message of
hope interspersed with his words to show us our sin.

Note that on different days,
the placement of the commentary on the page will vary. Sometimes,
I will use the left pane and sometimes the right pane.How are you coming at writing out, or
even memorizing scripture? This is the best way to study!

Romans Study: Questions, Commentary, and more:

Romans is a primer on
the relationship of the Believer to The Lord Jesus Christ.

Today we are continuing with our study
on Chapter 2 of Romans.

Keep in mind, as we study,
that we want to address:

1. How am I saved?

2. Can I lose my salvation (that
is, if I commit a sin, will I find I am no longer saved)?

3. If I keep on sinning, will
I be saved?

4. Is there victory over sin?

5. If I neglect my relationship
with the Lord Jesus, what happens to my salvation?

6. Once I am saved, do I have
license to keep on sinning?

The further issues are:

7. Once I am saved, how do I
keep from sinning?

8. Is it something I do, and
thus it becomes an issue of pride? Or is it a work that God does in our
lives?

9. Can we ever expect to overcome
sin? If we do, how does it happen? How are we set free?

10. If a person backslides in
his faith, and doesn't come back to vibrant Christian faith, is he saved
if he is in that condition when he dies?

This passage is shockingly direct.
Many of us argue, "That's not me; I am not that bad." But can
you really say that? This whole book of Romans is going to be a challenge
to that thinking, in what is arguably the best of Christian writing of
all times!

Scripture is quoted
today from the New International Version. We work with various versions,
because we believe that being well studied in the scripture will enable
us to rightly divide the word of truth. We encourage you to do likewise,
because of the insights we have gotten. Familiarize yourself with one,
and then go on to use others.

My commentary
is copyrightRick
Galbraith, April 18, 2002. It is
my "daily devotions," my own study of the Scriptures, and you are invited
to share it with me.